3 Rings of Sustainability
Three Rings of Sustainability seminar at Vancouver Wine Festival
During Vanwinefest I attended a thorough seminar on the three rings of sustainability: Economic, Social, and Environmental. This was an in-depth look at how these sustainability methods pertain to the wine industry as we know it today and how important these factors are for a winery’s success.
Social Sustainability
Dr. Monique Bell, Professor of Marketing, Fresno State, opened the seminar with discussion on social sustainability. She discussed topics such as racism within the wine industry, inclusivity, representation of different cultures, and accessibility. She presented some fascinating numbers from a SevenFifty Daily Beverage Industry Career and Salary Survey (2023).
“Younger employees (aged 22-30) over-indexed their colleagues on all policies, including pay transparency (67% vs. 447% overall) and diversity initiatives (49% vs 40% overall).” explains Bell. This prompts the case for wineries and their customer acquisition initiatives. Do wineries have a socially sustainable strategy for acquiring customers? Or are they just focused on retention?
Bell states that there are a number of organizations for wineries to connect to if they are serious about change to elevate DEI and women in their organizations. While Dr. Bells findings show that the industry has a long way to go regarding social responsibility, a wake up call that is ringing off the hook so to speak, there is a glimmer of hope with younger generations entering the market and demanding change.
One of Dr.Bell’s most resonating slides read:
“If a brand doesn’t have a multicultural strategy, it doesn’t have a growth strategy. The business case for multicultural outreach is clear.” - Andrew McCaskill, Nielsen.
Economic Sustainability
Damien Wilson, Ph.D of Sonoma Wine Business Institute tackled economic sustainability. In the last five years, prices have skyrocketed in the wine world across direct-to-consumer retail, restaurants, and more. “There’s a lack of demand because we aren’t bringing enough people in to the category. Even wine producers that have been able to raise prices see a profitability because as consumers age, they typically spend more money on wine. But, we’re creating a vacuum at the bottom of the wine market. There’s no on-boarding process for new consumers…and pricing has to be approachable!”
So, how do we remedy this situation? When discussing the topic of younger wine consumers, he suggests, “Engage with customers their way.” He goes on to explain how wineries can be worried about their own marketing spiel. “Wineries may be too focused on communicating their message. We need to engage and ask questions of people. If you ask questions and engage with the consumer instead of focusing on the sale at the starting point you would be amazed how much more successful that can be.”
Producers need to be questioning traditional approaches, because what worked for older generations, doesn’t work for new consumers.
Other appeals of economic sustainability include Organic Farming as a cost decreaser. Energy and Water efficiency infrastructure investments that offer a better time-value for money. Waste reduction: long term, re-using and recycling will offset the costs of disposal.
Environmental Sustainability
A panel of California winegrowers discuss environmental sustainability. From using sheep and beekeeping in the vineyards, to water conservation, not only are they making their vineyards sustainable, but they’re saving on costs.
“Eventually the land is going to run out of energy. I have to think generationally and put that biological capital back in to the winery.”
To listen to the passion Chris Benziger has for biodynamic farming is nothing short of inspiring. Benziger was one of the first wineries to be certified biodynamic in Sonoma and the main prerogative is by using sheep in the vineyards. He explains that just one step of a sheep hoof compacts debris in to the vineyard soil, eliminating mildew instead of using sprays to prevent it. The sheep eat the grass under the vines, eliminating the need for herbicides, they naturally fertilize, and they reduce tractor compaction in the vineyards.
A growing environmental sustainability trend is the use of cover crops as a way to replenish vineyard soils. Something as simple as planting fava beans between vines pulls nitrogen from the ecosystem and puts it back in to the soil, giving the vines the optimum nutrients needed to grow healthy grapes.
Environmentally sustainable practices benefit the vineyard and winery in numerous ways. As we see sustainable practices become more and more attractive to wine buyers, even at the final stage of the wine cycle, it’s a way to emotionally connect with consumers.
The Certification Dilemma
Whether its organic, biodynamic, or any other sustainable certification, they all cost the winery money. It is important for companies to ask themselves which certifiable bodies are worth the cost and ultimately, which ones will resonate with the consumer. Some wineries have several sustainable practices in place from vineyard to bottle but choose not to apply for a certification. If these wineries are successful in conveying their message and efforts to consumers, they may find the certifications irrelevant. Others simply cannot commit to a certified organic season when weather patterns within certain regions are so unpredictable, in which case the risk may heavily outweigh the reward.
The ideas put forth in this Three Rings of Sustainability seminar certainly enforce that these practices are critical for the climate that our industry faces.
“I challenge you to adopt evidence-based decision making”, says Wilson. “For so long we have relied on the fact that everyone else does this so we are going to do that too.” Overall, as wine consumption declines, we need to attract new people in to the category, and to do that we need to change our message.